I wanted to update everyone on the 8 blinking blue light issue with my PRO-111FD Kuro Elite. It turned out that my AWW1353 board was not the issue. It was the main HDMI board, AWW1371. I found the part on the internet and the TV is now working. If anybody gets this issue, make sure to check the AWW1353 board is working before assuming that is the problem. Everywhere online 8 blinking blue lights usually meant the IC resistor on the AWW1353 was bad but it could be the main board. I found a good local TV repair shop and they told me it was the main board. Next time, I am going to utilize them. Although I learned a lot about how these plasmas work, it was a lot of effort to get the correct diagnosis and find the parts. Pioneer still makes the AWW1371 but its about $500 new. I found it for $150.

I wanted to update everyone on the 8 blinking blue light issue with my PRO-111FD Kuro Elite. It turned out that my AWW1353 board was not the issue. It was the main HDMI board, AWW1371. I found the part on the internet and the TV is now working. If anybody gets this issue, make sure to check the AWW1353 board is working before assuming that is the problem. Everywhere online 8 blinking blue lights usually meant the IC resistor on the AWW1353 was bad but it could be the main board. I found a good local TV repair shop and they told me it was the main board. Next time, I am going to utilize them. Although I learned a lot about how these plasmas work, it was a lot of effort to get the correct diagnosis and find the parts. Pioneer still makes the AWW1371 but its about $500 new. I found it for $150.

uh oh, either they sold it to you hoping you wouldn't notice or they truly never saw it either. If it just developed one after all these years, it could be a bad sign as to longevity. All the panels I've owned when this has happened already have the failure out of the box from the factory or they undergo such failures in the first weeks to maybe months of use, which is more likely to be the case on your particular unit, IMO.

I was the seller. I never noticed it, and I would have disclosed it if I had. I sit about 8 feet away from the screen. Upon discovery of the dead subpixel, I have offered Synnove a full refund if he's unhappy with the screen. (Admittedly part of that offer is my own regret for selling a low-hours 9G Kuro in the first place. ) But I really just have no place to put it in the house other than a closet and that seems like a shame.

Synnove suggests that the subpixel might have died during his brief ownership, but I've had the monitor for 5 years and accept that it could have happened under my ownership and I just never saw it from the distance I sit at.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htwaits

It looks like they used the set almost exclusively for movies that averaged just under two hours in length. Given that usage, it wouldn't surprise me that they missed seeing the dead pixel.

From nothing other than the number of hours watched, that's an incredibly apt guess! Yes, the monitor has no tuner and I don't have cable or satellite. So it's pretty much all BDs, with some Netflix streaming on the side when I'm "slumming it".

Now if only I could re-awaken this dead red sub-pixel in the smack center of the screen I'd be a happy camper! Noise patterns, break in slides, the built in washer.. nothing seems to be doing it : ( .

Synnove, have you tried a "pixel flipper"? In researching the dead pixel problem, the "pixel flipper" often comes up as a suggestion. Admittedly this might be the same effect as a noise pattern, and perhaps people are using multiple terms for the same thing.

It looks like they used the set almost exclusively for movies that averaged just under two hours in length. Given that usage, it wouldn't surprise me that they missed seeing the dead pixel.

From nothing other than the number of hours watched, that's an incredibly apt guess! Yes, the monitor has no tuner and I don't have cable or satellite. So it's pretty much all BDs, with some Netflix streaming on the side when I'm "slumming it".

Actually I also used the number of power cycles.

Hours divided by power cycles results in another estimate: one movie per power cycle.

I finally repaired my reset 101fd to the point where it's back to stock performance with zero artifacts AND is tweakable with minimal artifacts. I have posted my experience and the procedure below for informational purposes.

Synnove, have you tried a "pixel flipper"? In researching the dead pixel problem, the "pixel flipper" often comes up as a suggestion. Admittedly this might be the same effect as a noise pattern, and perhaps people are using multiple terms for the same thing.

I've not! I thought most of them were similar to whitenoise and such. I've been using after effects to generate noise patterns of varying types, as well as running D-Nice's slides. I'll go ahead and try this though and see what comes of it. Given the low hours on the set, leaving it up there for a while couldn't hurt.

On an aside, I just finished calibrating ISF day: 52FL (181 nits) with no clipping of whites!

I've just moved my 111 into my new apartment and was thinking I would use the stand this time instead of wall mounting it. I just pulled the stand out of the closet and found I may be missing a screw needed for the stand. I have two longer black screws and one shorter black screw. I am missing the second, shorter screw. Looks like this:.

currently owning the 507XD and it's still working fine, but I recently found out to my surprise that the Samsung LED I bought for the kids' room outdoes it in terms of black levels and picture "bang".... Considering replacing the 507XD by a last generation Samsung LED or something as well, but also have considered upgrading to a 9G LX5090. What would you recommend? For info I would be spending around £600 for an LX5090, the Samsung 55" LED I was looking at is an ex-demo and can be had for £750. I'm not in it for the 3D, mostly image quality.

Any and all opinions and suggestions would be welcome and appreciated!

Don't recall from what generation that model emanates, but 9G should put the LED to shame.

It's a 7G, and lately I've been feeling that black levels really aren't that impressive at all.... that said it's not calibrated, don't know how much of an impact that would have on black levels?
Would an upgrade to the 5090 be a worthwhile investment? I guess I should be able to get something like £300 for the 507XD as well, so would be looking at a cost of around £300 for it.
What bothers me is the plasma and high electricity consumption.

I see that on all the reports as well, including D-Nice's. Around 2-3 DeltaE unfortunately. I've seem to have gotten mine down to 2 which seem's to be the best I can do.

Now if only I could re-awaken this dead red sub-pixel in the smack center of the screen I'd be a happy camper! Noise patterns, break in slides, the built in washer.. nothing seems to be doing it : ( .

I'm not sure if that is CIE94 or 2000, but 2 is very good, assuming your meter is correct. But I just wanted to chime in (a little late) that the typical 2-3 dE blue 9G reading discussed here is at 100%. Between 0-90% it is much closer to target with lower dEs. I think that saturation range covers 99% of the blue that anyone will see in video content.

It's a 7G, and lately I've been feeling that black levels really aren't that impressive at all....

That may be normal.

There is a dramatic difference in black levels between 1-7G (Pioneer Plasmas) and 8-9G (Pioneer Kuros). If you read the reviews it was the 8th generation that introduced shockingly low blacks, and that's when they started calling them Kuro (Japanese for black).

Quote:

Originally Posted by JorisS

What would you recommend? For info I would be spending around £600 for an LX5090, the Samsung 55" LED I was looking at is an ex-demo and can be had for £750. I'm not in it for the 3D, mostly image quality.

Plasma still trumps for image quality but there aren't many choices left. If you are lucky maybe you can find a Panny ST, VT, or ZT. If not, the Sammy F8500 is very good and still in production, but is somewhat expensive.

Since the kuros are no longer made, and have been for long while now, why can't us owners get access to things to get the best out of our display? Like D-Nice's black level reduction or the ISF modes? It's not like these TV's are new so what's the problem? Pioneer is even getting out of the AV market completely. It's time to share and let kuro owners enjoy the best of what's left of these amazing displays.

^ Would DNice not want to be reimbursed for a technique he developed himself and given your desire for it there is still a market for it. If I remember when DNice calibrated my Pioneer he accessed the ISF modes via his cal software, so I don't see how that is something Pioneer could do with a firmware update (besides not have the software engineers to do it since they laid those people off).

To add to your list about an update that let's my SC-07 use their nifty av control app.

^ Would DNice not want to be reimbursed for a technique he developed himself and given your desire for it there is still a market for it. If I remember when DNice calibrated my Pioneer he accessed the ISF modes via his cal software, so I don't see how that is something Pioneer could do with a firmware update (besides not have the software engineers to do it since they laid those people off).

I think most of us would gladly reimburse D-Nice for a guide and the software to do the tweak (if that's what it is). It's more the issue of a calibrator who is hard or impossible to get in touch with (and probably really busy) having exclusive access to a beneficial tweak for Kuro owners. That he has to be physically present for the tweaks is a substantial limitation, especially when I and other members have not been able to get a response from him.

^ I am not here by any means to speak for DNice, but as someone who has used his services twice in the past 6 years getting him to respond has never been an issue. Believe Turbe has mentioned a few times to contact him this way:
DeWayne Davis
A/V Fidelity LLC
info@av-fi.com

I will leave it up to him to supply his phone number. The last time I contacted him about 9 months ago and he responded to my PM within 2 or 3 weeks. Using the email address above was much quicker, usually during the weekends when I assume he has some time to catch up. I also have seen him on the Panny forums this month where he has been communicating with a few scheduled for calibrations. Good luck - he is definitely very good at what he does. Steve

Since the kuros are no longer made, and have been for long while now, why can't us owners get access to things to get the best out of our display? Like D-Nice's black level reduction or the ISF modes? It's not like these TV's are new so what's the problem? Pioneer is even getting out of the AV market completely. It's time to share and let kuro owners enjoy the best of what's left of these amazing displays.

Would be nice. The tweak is nice because you can do it to drop blacks on a perfectly fine panel. Unlike a reset which is irreversible unless you swap out your digital board before hand. And who would reset a perfect panel to open the door to countless issues.

The tweak I use is done in 5 minutes. And my blacks drop like they are hott! 😄. If the tweak takes, zero issue!

Saprano do you have a link or something I can read about pioneer exiting the av world. I would like to learn about this myself. Crazy!

^ I am not here by any means to speak for DNice, but as someone who has used his services twice in the past 6 years getting him to respond has never been an issue. Believe Turbe has mentioned a few times to contact him this way:
DeWayne Davis
A/V Fidelity LLC
info@av-fi.com

I will leave it up to him to supply his phone number. The last time I contacted him about 9 months ago and he responded to my PM within 2 or 3 weeks. Using the email address above was much quicker, usually during the weekends when I assume he has some time to catch up. I also have seen him on the Panny forums this month where he has been communicating with a few scheduled for calibrations. Good luck - he is definitely very good at what he does. Steve

I've tried that e-mail several times over the past year as well as PMs on here. Guess the only thing to do is keep trying and watch for any touring dates that are posted. I plan on keeping my Kuro for at least 6 years if it lasts that long so maybe it will happen.

^ Would DNice not want to be reimbursed for a technique he developed himself and given your desire for it there is still a market for it. If I remember when DNice calibrated my Pioneer he accessed the ISF modes via his cal software, so I don't see how that is something Pioneer could do with a firmware update (besides not have the software engineers to do it since they laid those people off).

To add to your list about an update that let's my SC-07 use their nifty av control app.

He's a calibrator. He's going to get paid either way. And he didn't make it himself. He said he got it from a engineer at Pioneer. And he said he wasn't going to be doing it anymore. I just think keeping stuff like that locked away, and the ISF modes, is pointless on these TV's.

The ISF modes are already there, they just need to be unlocked. I'm sure there are other ways beside the need of Control Cal.

Would be nice. The tweak is nice because you can do it to drop blacks on a perfectly fine panel. Unlike a reset which is irreversible unless you swap out your digital board before hand. And who would reset a perfect panel to open the door to countless issues.

The tweak I use is done in 5 minutes. And my blacks drop like they are hott! 😄. If the tweak takes, zero issue!

Saprano do you have a link or something I can read about pioneer exiting the av world. I would like to learn about this myself. Crazy!

Don't recall from what generation that model emanates, but 9G should put the LED to shame.

It's a 7G, and lately I've been feeling that black levels really aren't that impressive at all.... that said it's not calibrated, don't know how much of an impact that would have on black levels?
Would an upgrade to the 5090 be a worthwhile investment? I guess I should be able to get something like £300 for the 507XD as well, so would be looking at a cost of around £300 for it.
What bothers me is the plasma and high electricity consumption.

I wouldn't worry too much about the plasma power consumption. Perhaps if you were running her 24hrs a day yeah.

But then that wouldn't be very good for the components.

My first generation PS3 runs at 207 watts or something whilst playing a game ir bluray... The 500m probably about 300 average during the day. At night i would hazard a guess about 250 watts.

On the other hand herself has the washing machine on on average about twice a day - that's where most of the electricity consumption comes from in my place

I'd love to find out as well. The cheapest source for the AWW1371 I've been able to find is $280, and that is used. With luck, the 1352 (I have a 5020fd) will solve my problem but if not then I'll be hunting for a 1371. Based on the blink code (8 blue, 3 amber), my problem could be with an IC on the 1352 or an IC on the 1371.. if I'm reading the service manual correctly.

Since the kuros are no longer made, and have been for long while now, why can't us owners get access to things to get the best out of our display? Like D-Nice's black level reduction or the ISF modes? It's not like these TV's are new so what's the problem? Pioneer is even getting out of the AV market completely. It's time to share and let kuro owners enjoy the best of what's left of these amazing displays.

Saprano

Drop your RSTP to 002 , S1 to 72 , S3 to 82 and S4 to 129 , this should give you a major drop in MLL . Factory settings are RSTP 018 , S1 86 , S3 96 and S4 143 , Look for any artifacts , magenta pixles on moving images from black to light images , if you don't see anything(artifacts or misfires ) you are good to go , if you do just set everything back to stock settings ,

I think most of us would gladly reimburse D-Nice for a guide and the software to do the tweak (if that's what it is). It's more the issue of a calibrator who is hard or impossible to get in touch with (and probably really busy) having exclusive access to a beneficial tweak for Kuro owners. That he has to be physically present for the tweaks is a substantial limitation, especially when I and other members have not been able to get a response from him.

It's a service that he offers (and that I've enjoyed the benefit of) but one that requires a little more know how than simply flipping a switch. Please just be patient and courteous and I'm sure he'll respond. Not knowing if you have a decent post history or your attitude, it's impossible to say whether that's why he hasn't contacted you back but I can tell you (from witnessing other members) that calling him out is not the way to get what you want.

It's a service that he offers (and that I've enjoyed the benefit of) but one that requires a little more know how than simply flipping a switch. Please just be patient and courteous and I'm sure he'll respond. Not knowing if you have a decent post history or your attitude, it's impossible to say whether that's why he hasn't contacted you back but I can tell you (from witnessing other members) that calling him out is not the way to get what you want.

Can't you view my post history on here? You seem to be taking what I said a bit personally.

It's a service that he offers (and that I've enjoyed the benefit of) but one that requires a little more know how than simply flipping a switch. Please just be patient and courteous and I'm sure he'll respond. Not knowing if you have a decent post history or your attitude, it's impossible to say whether that's why he hasn't contacted you back but I can tell you (from witnessing other members) that calling him out is not the way to get what you want.

Can't you view my post history on here? You seem to be taking what I said a bit personally.